On the wake of climate change, experts have stressed on ensuring utmost use of cultivable as well as fallow lands to increase crop production adopting the latest conservation agriculture technologies for food security.
Rice scientist Dr Md Abdul Mazid, who got Independence Award 2018 Medal (food security) this year, said the issue of food security has become the most important issue due to changing climate that posing a threat to agriculture and many other sectors.
Putting significance on keeping the increasing trend of food production despite adverse impacts of climate charge, he stressed on bringing every inch of land under crop farming as the cultivable land area continues to shrink every year.
“Food demand of the population must be met under any situation and, so why, we must be able to adapt to climate change to keep food output increasing making best use of lands also to ensure peace, stability and harmony in the society,” he said.
However, Dr Mazid, also a former Chief Scientific Officer of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, lauded successes already achieved by Bangladesh in adapting to climate change and maintaining the increasing trend of food production during in last nine years.
“Innovation of flood-tolerant, drought-tolerant, saline-tolerant, cold-tolerant, heat-tolerant and disease-tolerant crop varieties like rice and wheat and their expanded cultivation has already added increased food production substantially in the country,” he said.
Terming best use of land as a prerequisite, he put emphasis on mechanisation of agriculture, innovation of newer technologies and stress tolerance crop varieties for expanding cultivation of those to further increase food output under adverse situations.
“We must find ways to switch over to climate resilient agriculture as none can reduce adverse impacts of climate change overnight. But agro-productions must be kept increasing for ensuring food security,” Dr Mazid said.
Senior Coordinator (Agriculture and Environment) of RDRS Bangladesh Agriculturist Mamunur Rashid said farmers should be trained to cope with untimely droughts, floods or heavy rains those adversely affect and hamper food production.
“So, it is quite evident that we must ensure best use of land and technologies for food security by increasing crop yield at reduced costs and saving resources amid changing climate also creating remunerative markets for farmers,” Rashid said.
Regional Farm Broadcasting Officer of the Agriculture Information Service Agriculturist Md Abu Sayem said, side by side with ensuring best use of lands, farmers should have knowledge on modern agriculture, quality seed and inputs to increase crop production.
“Delivering conservation agriculture technologies with adoption of innovative crop rotation in which crops are planted in minimum, no-till or reduced tillage with some crop residue retention on soil surfaces to reduce unproductive losses of water.
Regional Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension Md Moniruzzaman suggested the farmers for ensuring best use of lands adopting vegetables-based cropping pattern to earn maximum profits of their produce.
“A farmer can earn Taka one-lakh profit from 33 decimals of land, including homesteads and fallow lands, by cultivating crops adopting vegetables-based cropping pattern and proper technologies to produce four crops from the same land annually,” he added.
